Chandrayaan 3: How ISRO changed design after 2nd Moon mission's lander failure

Four years after the Chandrayaan 2 failed to land on the Moon, Indian space agency ISRO has learned from the errors.

The biggest difference is that for Chandrayaan 3, ISRO has gone for a 'failure-based' design rather than a 'success-based' design.

This means that ISRO assessed which parts can fail, and took steps to strengthen them.

These included putting more robust impact legs on the lander, and installing additional sensors and cameras.

ISRO has also increased the landing area.

Chandrayaan 3 is also carrying more fuel, and the lander has more solar panels to generate power no matter how it lands.

This time, there is no orbiter module, and this simplifies the mission.

Also watch: Chandrayaan 3: Explaining why Chandrayaan 2 failed in landing on Moon in 2019

Through the Chandryaan-3 programme, ISRO is crossing new frontiers by demonstrating soft-landing on the lunar surface by its lunar module and demonstrating roving on the lunar terrain, the space agency said.

The LVM3-M4 rocket (formerly GSLVMkI II) dubbed as 'Fat Boy' by space scientists for its ability to carry a heavy payload, would carry Chandrayaan-3 on Friday as ISRO's ambitious moon mission is hugely anticipated from this spaceport on Friday.

The soft landing of the spacecraft is planned for late August. The mission is expected to be supportive to future interplanetary missions.

Chandrayaan-3 mission consists of an indigenous propulsion module, lander module and a rover with the objective of developing and demonstrating new technologies required for inter-planetary missions.

Friday's mission is the fourth operational flight of LVM3 which aims to launch the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft into a Geo Transfer Orbit.

The LVM3 vehicle has proved its versatility to undertake most complex missions including injecting multiple satellites and interplanetary missions among others. It is also the largest and heaviest launch vehicle ferrying domestic and international customer satellites, ISRO said.

Scientists at ISRO through the third moon mission aim to demonstrate various capabilities including reaching the orbit of the moon, making a soft-landing on the lunar surface using a lander, and a rover coming out of the lander to study the surface of the moon.

On Tuesday, the 'launch rehearsal' simulating the entire launch preparation and process that lasted for over 24 hours concluded at Sriharikota while the next day, the Mission Readiness Review was completed by the scientists.

(with PTI inputs)